Columbia is The Star-Ledger's state boys fencing Team of the Year for 2010-11

Jennifer Brown/The Star-LedgerAndrew Kelly helped Columbia High win a state title and finish No. 1 in The Star-Ledger Top 10.

Imagine having a 6-0 lead in a dual meet before it even begins.

Every time Columbia started a match, that was how coaches Daryl White and Ibtihaj Muhammad felt thanks to Andrew Kelly and Brian Kaneshige.

The two fencers went undefeated in dual meets this season, including the playoffs as Kelly finished 11-0 and Kaneshige 9-0 when Columbia earned its second straight state team title. The work of Kaneshige and Kelly helped Columbia (15-0) polish off back-to-back undefeated campaigns with a 14-13 victory over Montclair in the NJSIAA team tournament final at Morris Hills in Rockaway on March 2.

Kelly and Kaneshige both went undefeated in dual meets this season.

“Having them both out there has been great the past few years,” sabre fencer Connor Thompson, a senior, said. “I know Brian works really hard to be as good as he is. Andrew was our MVP this year. In a dual meet, everyone knew he would go in and win.”

With Kelly setting the tone with a victory against a tough opponent in Hugh O’Cinneide of Montclair in the opening bout, Columbia stormed to an 8-1 lead in the first round of the state finals. Kelly and Kaneshige both ended up 3-0 in the final.

“I really couldn’t take credit for leading the team by setting the tone with an opening victory because I feel like I’m just doing my job,” Kelly said. “If I didn’t start things off right, I feel like its putting the team at a loss and they would have to make up for the deficit.”

Kelly and Kaneshige were 3-0 each in last season’s final, meaning the two are a combined 12-0 in state final. Columbia, which upped its victory streak to 33 straight matches, last lost against Ridge in the quarterfinals of the 2009 playoffs. It spent the entire season in the No. 1 spot in The Star-Ledger Top 10.

Kelly and Kaneshige, both First Team All-State selections, had the state’s best supporting cast. Freshman Jared LeBron and John Kirk fenced behind Kaneshigein the foil lineup, many times moving up the lineup when Kaneshige was fencing nationally. Kelly had Connor Thompson, Quinn McCann, Stowe Hammarberg and Nick Stellini behind him in a loaded sabre squad.

The epee line came through when needed. In the state final, senior Devon Good went 3-0 and provided the clinching victory in the 25th bout when he posted a 5-2 victory over Brian Farley to stop a Montclair comeback.

“We had real good chemistry,” White said. “To give you an example, Good wasn’t even starting at the beginning of the year and he didn’t complain one bit. He worked his tail off and midway through the season he got back into the lineup. He went on to win that clinching bout. Same thing with the other kids. A few of them would be on B or C strips on other teams, but other fencers were showing a little more. No one complained.”